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 | View photos of the "Take Part" activity held on April 9th 2000 with the Stewardship architects. |
| See some of the buildings we have looked at while evaluating our choices of architects and building styles! |
| Read some ideas we had while we were researching architects and building styles. |
As you know, the Building Committee is moving forward on the design of our new church building complex. We have hired the preeminent green architect in the Austin area to create a home for us that is in harmony with its beautiful and natural surroundings.
We know our new home is going to push the envelope in sustainable design, especially in Cedar Park, which, as a municipality, has had very little experience in green approaches to building.
On the positive side, this means that our new church building will be a precedent setting showcase for the entire area. On the negative side, it means that we have to do quite a bit of educating of local building officials in new approaches to construction as we go through the permitting process.
Our architect, Gail Borst, is ready to work with the local building officials. However she feels that it would be to our advantage to use church members wherever possible, for two reasons. First, it will reduce our architect fees. Second, she believes that regulatory bodies are more willing to listen to the passionate pleas of Church members who are also local residents.
There are two immediate issues facing us: Pavement and Water.
First, pavement. We hate blacktop and we are only marginally happier with cement. We want to used crushed granite pavement wherever possible. The City Engineer believes that crushed granite will not support the weight of fire engines and will form a road hazard. We know that crushed granite can be used successfully. We need to convince the City Engineer of this, primarily by presenting case studies of existing successful granite-paved projects.
Second, water. With 19 acres to work with, this project presents a wonderful and unique opportunity for a highly ecologically-, economically-sound approach to the handling of stormwater and wastewater. However, the regulatory system is not well equipped to deal with innovative approaches and we face a potentially huge battle. The rewards could be great: If successful, we could avoid having to trench great distances, installing a grinder pump wastewater system, and killing large numbers of trees. Anyone with knowledge of City, County and / or TNRCC regulations regarding water, wastewater or stormwater, or interest in learning about these issues, could really help us here.
Can YOU help us with either of these issues? You will be under the tutelage of the best green architect in Austin. Please help us with this by contacting George Huntington (242-6356) or Roger Sessions (431-2221/ roger@objectwatch.com). This is a great opportunity to help the church and LIVE YOUR PRINCIPLES by taking a positive step for our web of life.
Mark Your Calendars.... ......for Saturday, Aug. 12, 9 a.m. til noon. That is when our UUA fundraising consultant will be conducting an Assessment Workshop on the feasibility of our raising sufficient money to match our plans for our new church building. As an experienced fundraising consultant, Dave Rickert will also be able to give us fresh, new ideas for realizing our dreams. This meeting is open to everyone, members and friends of Live Oak. And, not only is everyone welcome, but encouraged to attend.
The new building project is in full swing! We received a generous donation of prime land, a 19 acre tract on Hatch Road near our current location (see "Visit the Land"). We have hired Stewardship, Inc. architects (see "A Message from the Architects"). Tree and topographic surveys have been commissioned, and a civil engineer has been hired.
The schedule will proceed as follows.
April 9: "Take Part" planning activity (see below).
April 30: "Take Part" follow-up session.
Early May: begin fund-raising activities.
Early June: Master Plan complete.
Year End 2000: Complete designs and fund-raising; begin construction bidding process.
Early 2001 - early 2002: Construction.
All members are invited to share ideas and participate in the planning for the new church during a "Take Part" gathering on Sunday, April 9, 2000 after services (12:30 - 5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary). This event will be a unique opportunity for you to help direct Stewardship, Inc., the Architect, in the design of the new church. Your opinions and suggestions will be an important part of making the new facility fit the needs and desires of the congregation.
During the "Take Part," you will participate in numerous hands-on interactive sessions to explore the opportunities for the new church facility. It is designed to be fun as well as to provide the architects with valuable information. You do not have to be able to draw, be artistic, or understand architectural terms in order to participate. A slide show will introduce you to the work of Stewardship, local sustainable projects, and other images that may be of interest with respect to the new Live Oak UU Church project.
Interested youth who are prepared to handle this fairly long session are welcome to attend. Childcare staff will be available for a small fee. Contact Sue Ann Kendall at sak@mallorn.com or 218-8578 if you need childcare.
A hat will be passed for those who would like to order pizza. Please bring a salad, dessert, drinks, or other food items you would like to munch.
A follow-up session is planned for Sunday, April 30, during which Stewardship will present the results of the first event and talk about decisions and direction, and to allow further comments, questions, and answers.
An e-mail discussion list has been created at liveoakuu-building-discussion@onelist.com . All members of liveoakuu@onelist.com and the architecture team are subscribed to it. Please use this list to ask questions and provide feedback at any time.
To make our efforts at the April 9th "Take Part" event as productive as possible, Stewardship is asking each member of the congregation to perform several "homework" activities. Some of the group exercises on April 9th will be built on these homework activities. These are intended to be fun and open-ended. Stewardship is not looking for any particular answer, response, or question; rather, it is interested in your thoughts and feelings that result from performing these activities. We realize that everyone’s time is very precious, but your participation at this stage of the project is very important towards making this YOUR church.
By the time you get this newsletter, Stewardship will have placed 10-15 wooden stakes at locations around the new church site. Using the map that will be available at Live Oak, please visit the new site and walk to at least 7 of these stakes, in whatever order you choose. Spend a few minutes at each stake, record the stake number, date and approximate time of day, and then your thoughts. Consider particularly any sounds, sights, or smells, any trees, buildings, or land features that strike you, any emotion, hope, or doubt that occurs to you.
At the site or at home, imagine 5 years into the future. You have met new neighbors and want to invite them to a Live Oak service, and perhaps to join the congregation. What do you imagine yourself saying about Live Oak? …about the comfort of the church?…about the intimacy of the congregation?
Clip any images that you might like to see echoed or reflected in the new church. Of course, the new church will not be an imitation of any other building or special place, but the Architect wants to get a feel about what you're attracted to visually and scale-wise.
Please bring your homework with you to the April 9th "Take Part" (adults are encouraged to "cheat" and get help from the kids!). See you there!
Stewardship, Inc. is very pleased to have been selected by Live Oak UU Church to design your new "home". We look forward to working with you in integrating the needs and desires of your congregation with the natural beauty of your wonderful site.
Stewardship, Inc. was founded in 1992 by Gayle Borst as an architectural firm specializing in sustainable residential and commercial planning and design. Our emphasis is on creating spaces in the built environment that nurture humans and interact with and respect the natural environment. The sustainable approach to design strives to integrate a wide range of human and environmental concerns with the more conventional issues of function, durability, aesthetics, and budget. We weave in "green" issues such as energy efficiency, natural and nontoxic materials, resource efficiency, natural lighting, natural thermal comfort, site-specific design, and soulfulness.
The architectural team that will be working on the Live Oak UU Church project will be Gayle Borst, Elliot Johnson, and Jim Walker. Gayle, who will serve as project architect, is a member of, and a former advisor to, the City of Austin Green Building Program, a co-founder of the Sustainable Building Coalition, a founding member of the Straw Bale Association of Texas, and has served on various City of Austin task forces for sustainable building & development and energy efficiency. Over the past eight years she has been active as a sustainable building educator through radio, TV and print and as a speaker at various conferences. Elliot Johnson, a graduate of UT School of Architecture, will assist with most phases of the Church project and will manage the production of the AutoCad construction drawings. He is active with the Green Building Program and the Sustainable Building Coalition. Jim Walker is our Planner, who has experience with group decision making, building construction, sustainable building and municipal government. Jim will be the primary coordinator of the Take Part event planned for April 9th.
The three of us are very excited about working with Live Oak UU Church on this project. Together we can create a wonderful new home for the Church that not only functions well but feeds the soul, engages the senses and touches the heart. See you soon.
From the church, turn right onto highway 620. Hatch Road is the 2nd light (Lake Creek Parkway is the first). Turn right on Hatch (there is a Racetrack Gas station on the corner). You will pass a church, then a small mobile home park on the right side (which is for sale). Our land (almost 19 acres) starts right after the mobile home park and continues until an old mini-warehouse. There is a green steel building on the corner of our property just before the mini-warehouses. The church owns the building but is currently leasing it, so please do not disturb. There is a wet weather creek bisecting the property.
The current plan is the build the new church on the cleared land between the mobile home park and the creek. We invite you to take a hike on the land. You may want to bring along a trashbag and help clean up the property.
Several building-related issues are currently under study.
State Highway 45 will be a six lane east-west corridor with frontage roads that will follow RR620 for several miles, including the section that runs past Lakeline Office Park and Hatch Road. The final alignment is not determined. The state's preferred alignment would consume Lakeline Office Park, and Live Oak would receive financial remuneration for Lakeline Office Park. The City of Cedar Park has proposed an alignment that would leave Lakeline Office Park intact and consume part of Anderson Mill subdivision instead. A third proposal would narrow the road somewhat and probably leave Lakeline Office Park intact. A final decision is not expected until this summer.
Red Barn Nursery is considering purchasing the land immediately south of the Hatch Road property (labelled "trailer park" on the enclosed map). To make more efficient use of the land, Red Barn has asked "land rich" Live Oak to consider sharing an entrance road, water retention pond, and parking space on the nursery's heavy volume days (seven weekends per year). In return for LOUU sharing space, Red Barn would provide cash and landscaping assistance. The Building Committee has asked LOUU's architect to advise us on the matter. Expect this to come up in the "Take Part" sessions.
The Building Committee is also considering the possibility that the construction site may overlie caves or caverns that could contain protected invertebrates. This possibility may impact building location.
Lest we forget, Live Oak is a very lucky congregation. We occupy half the Lakeline Office Park building, rent received from the other half pays our "mortgage," and pledge income covers operational expenses. Well, now we have a chance to stretch! We must have funds in hand before beginning construction about one year from now. Funding will come from several sources: gifts, promissory notes, a bank loan, and possibly a third party (see the item on Red Barn Nursery).
There are two financing scenarios. In the first, Lakeline Office Park is purchased by the state before construction starts, and the church has a decent nest egg on which to raise funds. Monthly income consists mainly of pledges, which cover both operational and capital expenses. The less capital we have to pay back (such as bank loans), the more monthly income can be applied to operational expenditures. In the second scenario, Lakeline Office Park is either purchased after construction starts or is not purchased at all. This increases the capital fund raising requirement, but, while we still own Lakeline Office Park, rental income from Lakeline Office Park can be used to pay down our debt and fund operational expenses.
In May, fund-raising will start. The Finance Committee will consider hiring a consultant to direct the fund-raising (congregational approval would be required for this hire).
Thanks to the people who have performed the myriad project tasks, especially those who visited building projects, interviewed architects, reviewed the architecture contract, are coordinating the "Take Parts," and are setting up accounts relationships with businesses. We need more people to help with the rewarding work to come. Please see anyone on the Building Committee or send an e-mail to the discussion list if you would like to help.
It will take about two years to build the new church. Here is construction schedule.
Phase |
Finished |
Description |
Schematic design phase |
6/00 |
After "take part," Stewardship provides a master plan, a preliminary site plan, a floor plan and elevations, and a preliminary construction cost estimate. |
Design development phase |
8/00 |
Stewardship provides structural, electrical, and mechanical systems drawings, materials details, and an updated construction cost estimate. |
Construction documents |
12/00 |
Stewardship provides construction drawings and specifications and helps LOUU prepare bidding information, forms, and construction contract conditions. |
Bidding phase |
3/01 |
Obtain bids; award and prepare construction contracts. |
Construction phase |
early '02 |
Build the new facility. |
August 1999
OUR NEW CHURCH BUILDING
by Roger SessionsThe planning for our new building has been moving forward. Based on feedback from church members, we have been investigating a green approach to building our new church building. By green we mean using sustainable building materials (such as, possibly, straw bale walls) and doing everything possible to minimize our impact on the land (such as orientating the building for minimal direct sun light and maximum natural cooling, and possibly even something as radical as rainwater collection). We are now talking to two architectural firms that specialize in green building, and both feel, after preliminary discussions, that they would be very willing to work on this project with us. We still don't know if this will really be feasible, but we hope to able to bring some proposals to the congregation in the late August time frame.
In the meantime, five of the 19 acres of the land that have been promised to Live Oak for donation have been cleared of brush, and you can get walk through the land and get a feeling for where our new church building will be. All large trees have been left in place. You can walk through the property, listen to the birds, and just generally envision our future. Take your kids, they will love it. It is a truly beautiful piece of land and whatever we end up building there, we are going to be very happy.
To get to the new land from our current church building, turn right on 620. Turn right on Hatch road (2 or 3 intersections). Go about ¼ mile until you see some newly cleared land on your right. Park by the cleared area and walk to your heart's content. If you drive a few hundred feet too far on Hatch, you will come to an open drainage/soccer field on your left. Make a U turn and look again for the clearing.
If you would like a fifteen minute project for you and your kids, bring a plastic bag with you and take home some of the windblown trash near the road. You can start right now by helping make our new property even more beautiful than it already is!
We have discussed putting up a sign on the property ("New Home of Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church", etc.). If you are interested in working on this project let me (Roger Sessions; roger@objectwatch.com ) or George Huntington know. And if you would like to be part of the planning for this project, let us know as well. I would be happy to add you to the email discussion list if you drop me a note. And, of course, everybody is welcomed to the Building Committee Meetings which occur on the first Sunday of the month at the church about 20 minutes after the service.
To our future together,
Roger
June 1999
OUR NEW BUILDING
by Roger Sessions
It looks like we are ready to go serious. The last congregational meeting just approved the first phase of a likely four phase building project. Our tentative plan goes like this:
| Phase 1. Collect our thoughts on what we want from our building. Engage a builder/architect to prepare plans. Get permits. Have everything ready for construction. Cost of phase 1 - $50,000. This is the phase that was approved at the congregational meeting. |
| Phase 2. Build a new building to house new religious education classrooms, offices, fellowship hall/temporary sanctuary. Total size of building about 10,000 square feel, or about twice our current space. Estimated cost of phase 2 - $750,000. We will ask for approval for this phase once we had the financing under control through some combination of growth, gifts, and pledges. |
| Phase 3. Engage a builder/architect to prepare plans for new, permanent sanctuary. Cost and timing: unknown. |
| Phase 4. Build new sanctuary. cost and timing: unknown. |
But at this point, we don't even know what we want from our new building. There are a million details to coordinate, and the sooner we get started, the better. And that is where you come in. Help us collect ideas, dream, plan, dream, brainstorm, dream, organize, dream, finance, and dream some more. Most important, get involved with this incredible project: Our New Church Home, on 19 beautiful acres of land.! It's easy, just let George Huntington or Roger Sessions know you are interested, and start coming to building committee meetings. See you then.
The building committee has been waiting with our collective breaths held. What was going to be the word from the vision committee? Do people want to allow our church to grow, or do they want it to stay as it is? The preliminary report from vision committee is now official. Growth is high on everybody's agenda!
Based on this, we are moving forward with plans for the new church building. At the April steering committee, we presented our ideas for a fast track building. We will present many more details at the next steering committee and the May congregational meeting, but we thought we would give you a quick overview here.
We believe we can build a new church building twice the size of our current space in about 18 months, and we can finance it with our current membership. The new building will allow us to grow, but not force us to grow in order to make the finances. We will keep the costs low by using standard plans and low cost building materials. The building we create will be functional and attractive, but not beautiful. We will incorporate green building techniques where ever possible without greatly increasing cost and/or time to completion. The building will include a sanctuary seating over 200, class rooms, offices, and a kitchen. For bathrooms we will use outhouses situated conveniently to the main property. (Just Kidding!, we will have nice bathrooms!)
The next step is to choose an architect and approve a preliminary budget. This is what we will discuss at the next congregational meeting.
If you would like to get involved in this great venture, let either George Huntington or Roger Sessions know of your interest. And keep tuned for important late breaking information.
- Your loving building committee
At the last building committee we looked over a proposal George and I have been exploring. This is very preliminary, but the general idea is to go with a "fast track" building plan to put up a new church on the Hatch Road property that has been promised for donation. The "fast track" building plan would use relatively inexpensive building material and off-the-shelf building plans to put up a 10,000 square foot building in approximately 18 months. This building would cost about $550,000 and could be funded, we believe, from our existing congregational resources.
The building plans are even more preliminary, but could include the following:
- 5,000 Sq. Ft. of sanctuary/fellowship hall (today we have about 2,000)
- 4,000 Sq. Ft. of class rooms/office space/kitchen (today we have about 2,000)
The sanctuary/fellowship hall would serve double duty. The front 2/3 would be where church services would be held. This area would have seating for about 125. The back 1/3 would be where coffee would be served. When/if we grow beyond the seating capacity, we would push back into the serving area.
The church is now at a point at which we need to start thinking about our long term growth plans. It's great to see the Vision/Growth Committee starting on this quest. The nice thing about this building plan is that it accommodates many different church sizes. Here are a few long term possibilities:
- We decide to stay at our current size. No problem. We can afford the new building, we have much nicer facilities, we have room to stretch our feet.
- We decide to double in size. Still not a major problem. The new building is at capacity, but no more crowded than we are now.
- We decide to grow to a 250-300 member church. We build a brand new beautiful sanctuary adjacent to our building and use the building exclusively for Religious Education, offices, and Fellowship Hall.
In any case, we end up with a much nicer facility than we have now nestled in the beautiful woods, with a highly visible permanent sign on a well traveled road, away from the bustle of 620, and no Firestone behind us! No Texaco right next door, but you can't have everything.
We need you to get involved in this building vision. You can get involved by coming to the building committee (1st Sunday of each month after church). Or you can come to Steering Committee (2nd Saturday of each month in the evening). Or even better, do both of the above! Or just let me or George know you want to be part of this. This is a dream that is within our reach. All we need to do is reach together.
- Roger Sessions (
roger@objectwatch.com)The January meeting of the Building Committee consisted of a report by Thomas Moore of a book about planning and building a church, and a packet of information from Bill Zelazny at First Church about their building experience which Chuck Freeman presented. The questions to be explored include: requirements of a good site, critical issues regarding the site, why a master plan is necessary, financial concerns, factors relating to the amount a church can spend, and good church design factors.
As you can see from the content, we are still gathering information about the process of building a church. The next meeting on February 7 at 1:00 pm will explore the following questions: How do we address how many church members for which to plan a building; and, What is each members own member size goals? This discussion will result in a presentation in March
Build It and They Will Come - Unitarian Universalism is Growing in Northwest Austin Did you notice how large our last New Member Welcoming was? Have you had a chance to greet all the new visitors we've been seeing? Have you noticed it's sometimes difficult to find a seat for worship services? Space for the kids in RE? Well the folks who participated in the Long Range Planning retreat in August have. Since then, the prospect of moving from our planned interim space here at the Lakeline Office Park to our own free-standing church building has been discussed at Steering Committee. With the more than generous donation of land on Hatch Road (about a mile from our current space) on which to build a free-standing church, the newly-established Building Committee is emboldened by this wonderful opportunity to create an original church home for Live Oak.
How is this healthy growth impacting our congregation as we know it? Worship space and membership numbers have a symbiotic relationship: we need a larger space for our growing membership, and we need a larger membership for growing a new space. The committee has met twice to begin to organize and discuss this next critical step in the life of our congregation. These initial discussions have included a rough look at financing a new building, whether to sell or rent our current building, brainstorming the steps involved in building a new church, outlining the different areas that will need attention as we develop our plans, and how to manage our growth through this change process. This process is just beginning.
Open and inclusive communication between the congregation and the Building Committee is an integral part of the process of creating a new church home. This is the first such communication. A new building is obviously a significant undertaking for our congregation. Every member's input is important to truly reflect the essence of Live Oak. Our ongoing dialogue may take various forms: meetings, presentations, forums, worship services, church retreats, e-mail, our web page, newsletter articles and coffee hours. In the meantime, if you have ideas or questions, joys or concerns, feel free to speak with Roger Sessions, George Huntington, Jon Durbin, Mark Bishop, John Iacoletti, or other Building Committee members.
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Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.